Wranglers, Manglers Ready to Rumble
Adam Markowitz
Tuesday May 16, 2006
Behind the Scenes
I have never, in all of my years around the Arena Football League, seen a team as a whole, from the front office right down to the fans, be so excited to host a game.
On Monday, it was announced that the Wranglers are donating $30,000 worth of tickets for Sunday’s game to charities. Team president and part owner, Doug MacGregor deserves all the credit in the world for trying his best to reach out to the city of Austin and to the Arena Football community as a whole. We here at ArenaFan once again thank him for the chat session he had with us last week. Wranglers’ message board poster mrs.deepblue had this to say about Mr. MacGregor, "Team President Doug MacGregor is the best owner any fan could hope for. He greets the fans with a big smile and always visits us at the tailgates. He must shake hundreds of hands during a game day and always has time to talk with the fans. Doug supports causes critical to Austin being a great place for everyone to live."
Said Coach Foster about his front office staff, "What we have set up is tremendous continuity from owner/president Doug MacGregor, to Glyn Milburn our general manager, and right down to our coaching staff."
The team is also giving the first 5,000 fans that enter the Erwin Center "Rowdy Rags" and Thunder Sticks.
Mangler Pride
As for the fans? How’s a day-before party, a tailgating party starting at 8:00 AM for a 2:00 PM kickoff (yes, I just said 8:00 AM!), signs, hats, rags, cowbells, and going onto the field during the game to dance with the cheerleaders to get the crowd riled up? Don’t tell these die-hard Austinites that this is anything special for the playoffs. It’s all a part of being a Mangler.
"We scream and yell, run up and down the aisles giving high five to all, no matter what the score is. We stand in our seats in the end zone giving hell to the other team trying to get into their head and when we do and they fumble or drop the ball, we know we are doing our job," stated poster WillieT.
Not just anyone can be a Mangler though. "Being a Mangler is a privilege, not a right… We exist for the fans, not for ourselves, and we will do whatever is asked of us as our small contribution to the whole AFL/Wranglers experience," exclaimed the founder of the group, MrHooters. Tailgates though, are always open to all Wrangler fans, and the Manglers encourage all going to the game this weekend to come out as early as you’d like and join in the fun. Just follow the noise and the smell of the barbeque when you reach the Erwin Center.
Showdown with the Soul
And did I mention there’s a game to be played as well this weekend? When all the festivities are over and the fans are settled in to watch the Wranglers do battle, it will be against the visiting Philadelphia Soul, another team making their first playoff appearance in franchise history. The two teams met back on March 31st in Philadelphia, a 43-38 victory for the Wranglers. In that game, QB John Fitzgerald played a near perfect game, throwing for 296 yards, six touchdowns, and no interceptions. Both teams enter this game having just beaten Southern Division opponents on the road. Austin was a 67-43 winner in Orlando, while Philadelphia earned their playoff birth by knocking off the Georgia Force 57-41 in Phillips Arena. The winner of this game earns the right to play either at Orlando or at Dallas in their quest to capture the Arena Bowl title.
Success Now and on the Horizon
Win or lose on Sunday afternoon, the Wranglers have a bright future ahead of them. In addition to adding former NFL superstar DB Deion Sanders to the ownership team, on Monday, they announced the re-signing of five players, including WR/DB Sedrick Robinson and FB/LB Dane Krager, bringing their total of players locked up for the 2007 season up to a whopping 15. In a league where free agency moves marquee players across the country year after year, Austin has done their best to keep a core of players in Wrangler uniforms year after year. "I had a very, very specific system that I’ve used to win championships… I believe that it’s not about me, it’s about the system of building your team with a solid foundation," said Coach Foster.
Final Challenge
The front office has proven that they are the right people to build a successful AFL franchise. The team has gained a recognizable name in their ownership group. The fans are clearly flocking to the arena. The players seemingly all want to stay in Austin. Heck, they’re even talking about building a new stadium to get the team off of that short field known as the Erwin Center. So what’s holding the Austin Wranglers back and causing Coach Foster to call his team a "no-name team?"
Our bad. We, the media owe you an apology Austin. If it wasn’t for the Wranglers purchasing the AFLNet rights for the fans to be viewed from their website on Friday night, no one in Austin would have seen their team win the most important game in franchise history. In fact, if you’ve been surfing your satellite channels on your television in Austin, you haven’t seen a Wrangler game live… since week 9. And if you just have basic cable, you haven’t seen a Wrangler game since… since… well, you’re still waiting for your first one this year. If not for AM1300 The Zone, who knows whether anyone in Austin would know that the Wranglers exist. Kudos to The Zone for hosting "The Skip Foster Show" on Monday nights as well as broadcasting all 16 Wrangler games on live radio. Finally, if you happened to pick up Friday’s copy of the local Austin newspaper, you know that your Arena League team was playing for a home playoff game… but you never found out what happened in that game in the paper on Saturday, or Sunday, or Monday…
The last time I saw the Wranglers play, it was T-I-M-E for R-E-S-P-E-C-T. But Wrangler fans, respect is NOW. You and your team have both earned far more respect than you have received, and your reward comes Sunday. I can only hope that my message gets spread throughout the city of Austin and the Erwin Center is packed and the television ratings are through the roof. It’s the only way you’ll get what you have coming to you. I promised you increased media coverage if you kept up the fan support and the team kept winning, even if I had to do it myself…
…You kept up your end of the bargain… See you this weekend…
Adam Markowitz is an accountant living in Orlando. Adam is an old school AFLer, having followed the AFL since 1991. He attended or covered well over 200 games, including 17 ArenaBowls. Adam worked for the Arena Football League for two years as a columnist and historian before retiring in 2017 when the 50-yard indoor war left the Sunshine State. Adam still muses about the AFL on ArenaFan from time to time, and you can follow him on Twitter @adammarkowitzea.
